Business Manager

Victorian Government; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Gilgai Plains Primary School in Melbourne's northern suburbs seeks an experienced Business Manager to lead the school's administration, finance and operations. The role requires strategic thinking, robust financial management, and effective people leadership in a school environment.

You will work closely with the Principal and leadership team to ensure sound governance, budgeting, asset and facilities management, and a high standard of administrative service to staff, students and families.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated thorough working knowledge of sound Financial Management legal requirements and practices, including budget development, report production and the interpretation and analysis of reports.
• Demonstrated detailed knowledge of current Occupational Health & Safety and Human Resources Management practices, including First Aid and Critical Incident Response, the SRP, CASES21, EduPay, EduSafe, Recruitment Online and Compass.
• Demonstrated detailed knowledge of Asset Management and Facilities Management including development and maintenance of grounds and buildings including Capital Grant management.
• Ability to contribute to strategic decision making within the school by providing advice, information and recommendations to the Principal and Leadership Team on finance, personnel and administration systems.
• Commitment to professional learning and growth for self and others, including leading and building capacity within Administration ES and Leadership teams.
• High level written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills with the wider school community and external organisations.

Responsibilities

• Deliver School Services: Provide administrative support and oversee design and production of school publications and documents.
• Finance: Lead annual budgets, financial statements and funding submissions; manage government grants and school income; oversee accounting and spending against budget.
• General Administration: Ensure broad administrative support for the Principal and staff; manage admissions, enrolments and school events.
• Human Resources: Plan and implement staff development; manage recruitment and staff wellbeing.
• Manage School Resources: Coordinate building and equipment maintenance; liaise with service providers; draft operational reports and recommendations.

Skills

Financial management

OH&S & HR practices

Asset & facilities management

Strategic decision making

Leadership & professional growth

Communication & interpersonal skills

Tools

SRP

CASEs21

EduPay

EduSafe

Recruitment Online

Compass

Job description

Occupation: Administration

Location: Melbourne - Northern suburbs

Reference: 1549007

Location Profile

We are seeking an experienced and highly capable Business Manager to lead our business and administration team. The successful candidate will have extensive experience and a strong understanding of the financial, operational, administrative and people-management requirements of a school environment.

We are looking for someone who is organised, proactive, approachable and collaborative, and who can confidently lead a team while working closely with the Principal and leadership team. Importantly, we are seeking someone who aligns with our school values of Kindness, Respect, Learning Together and Zest, and who will contribute positively to our school culture and wider community.

School Profile

To develop confident, resilient and resourceful thinkers who strive to achieve their best and contribute to make the world a better place.

Teaching and Learning

Gilgai Plains Primary School has a strong and dedicated staff who are supported to continually improve their practice and their impact, on student learning outcomes. Our instructional practices are based on the Science of Learning (cognitive science research on how students learn) and a strong body of research supporting a systematic, explicit approach, particularly when it involves learning new concepts and operations. Our leadership team oversee consistent staff professional learning to continue to build the knowledge and skills of our teachers. Gilgai Plains Primary implements a school wide instructional model which is Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI). Our teachers model the learning process of new concepts for students by using an 'I do, We do, You do' strategy and provide students with purposeful and understandable feedback to support achievement and success. Student interaction is very high which builds upon our student engagement. We use evidence based methods to ensure all students succeed and thrive in their learning.

We have an experienced and supportive student wellbeing team, to enhance our commitment to ensure all student's specific learning needs are met and to assist in the development of safe and supportive learning environments for all of our students.

Mission

• Teaching and reinforcing how to being kind to self, others and our environment
• Ensuring students feel safe, happy and well
• Greeting students with a smile and a hello and helping them to love coming to school
• Ensuring each student is seen
• Teaching students to be literate and numerate and give them experiences to continually grow and succeed
• Providing diverse learning opportunities
• Supporting students to work hard and allow others to be their best
• Helping students to have at least one good friend and teaching them how to make friends and keep friends
• Being the person they can go to when needed
• Teaching students to work and play by our values

Values

Our values guide our students and staff in our everyday actions and behaviours. Our school culture is built upon these 4 values and underpins how we work and play.

We act withKINDNESS

We behave withRESPECT

Our Motto

Sparking joy in learning and compassion in hearts

Selection Criteria

SC1 Demonstrated thorough working knowledge of sound Financial Management legal requirements and practices, including budget development, report production and the interpretation and analysis of reports, as well as the ability to provide high level financial planning and management advice and recommendations to the principal.

SC2 Demonstrated detailed knowledge of current Occupational Health & Safety and Human Resources Management practices, including First Aid and Critical Incident Response, the SRP, CASES21, EduPay, EduSafe, Recruitment Online and Compass.

SC3Demonstrated detailed knowledge of current Asset Management practices as well as an excellent understanding of Facilities Management including the Developmentand Maintenance of both Grounds and Buildings including Capital Grant management.

SC4 A demonstrated ability to contribute to strategic decision making within the school by providing advice, information and recommendations to the Principal, the Leadership Team, the Finance Subcommittee and School Council on a wide range of operational issues relating to finance, personnel and administration systems.

SC5 Demonstrated commitment to professional learning and growth for both self and others, including a proven ability to lead and build capacity within the Administration ES and Leadership teams, and to take responsibility for the management of work, professional development and review processes as required.

SC6 High level written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with all members of the school community including students, parents and staff, as well as a demonstrated ability to work effectively and proactively with outside organisations and all members of the school community taking into account their individual needs and circumstances.

Role

[Attendance requirement for this position]

A Business Managerrole will usually undertake tasks that impact on the whole school. The role seeks to gain cooperation of other staff members or members of the school community to achieve specific objectives, such as in school administration, finance or human resources.

Direction on targets and goals is provided but the position will have some degree of latitude in determining how they are achieved. This latitude will generally be limited by standard procedures and school policy.Deviation from standard procedures and school policy will require guidance and direction from senior management.

Management of staff to achieve the expected outcomes is a key responsibility.Staff management issues will be resolved with minimal reference to senior management, although guidance will be required in more complex cases.Senior management will be provided with timely reports and advice in matters relating to the school finance, human resources or school administration.

Responsibilities

Deliver School Services

• Manage the design and production of school publications and documents

Finance

• Manage and direct the preparation of annual budgets and regular financial statements and contribute to the financial decision making of the school.
• Prepare funding submissions for the leadership team and school council.
• Direct the accounting processes of the school and ensure that all funds, including school investments, are effectively accounted for according to Treasury regulations.
• Provide advice to staff on spending against budget in respect to faculties, programs and other school projects.
• Administer government grants and other school income.
• Manage fund raising activities.

General Administration

• Ensure the provision of a range of administrative support functions for the Principal and teaching staff.
• Provide administrative support to external service providers as required.
• Manage the processing of student admissions, registrations, enrolments and transfers.
• Provide required level of administrative support for school events, functions and projects.
• Implement induction programs for new staff, volunteers and other workers to the school.

Human Resources

• Research, plan and prepare development programs for support staff.
• Manage recruitment procedures.
• Provide authoritative advice to the leadership team on support structures and work practices.
• Assist in the development of work practices that ensure appropriate occupational health and safety standards are maintained.
• Manage procedures relating to employee relations issues.
• Assist in the development of human resource planning.

Manage School Resources

• Coordinate the use and maintenance of school buildings and equipment.
• Liaise and negotiate with service providers in respect to the cost and quality of services.
• Supervise the delivery of contracted services.
• Manage the development and collection of resource material at the school.
• Draft reports and make recommendations on operational issues.
• Evaluate and report on the operational efficiency of computer systems in production, making recommendations for improvement where appropriate.
• Develop techniques and procedures that will affect work practices beyond the work place.
• Manage a technical program with a broad scope across the school.

Who May Apply

Individuals with the aptitude, experience and/or qualifications to fulfill the specific requirements of the position.

Diversity and Inclusion

The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department.The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces.It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines ).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [e-mail]

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

Child Safe Standards

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees,including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

• All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
• Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
• A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
• Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

Applications close Sunday 1 November 2026 at 11.59pm